About
¡Hola! I am a UX design lead and entrepreneur based out of Silicon Valley. Over the last decade, I have worked for Google, Airbnb, and Apple. I have managed, led, and directly contributed to design teams that focus on user experience, interaction, and visual design and have been awarded numerous design patents. I studied Industrial and Graphic Design from 2002–2009 at the Rhode Island School of Design where I received a BFA and MFA. In addition, I have also been featured in a number of national and international publications as well as news outlets and received a few design awards along the way. Today, I am the founder and CEO of my new startup called Tijiko. When not designing, I love to write about design matters, share my experience in the industry as a guest lecturer, and mentor budding designers.
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At Google, I focused on crafting Google Assistant experiences where I managed and led UX teams working on Android and iOS mobile experiences as well as other Assistant surfaces (such as smart speakers, TV, and accessory products). In addition, I led UX Diversity and Inclusion efforts within Google’s Search organization and actively participated in national and international design forums. Prior to my time working on Google Assistant, I also managed and headed design efforts for Google Now and one of the teams within X, Google's moonshot factory, and worked on monetization initiatives as a Senior UX designer.
In 2013 while at Airbnb, I led the first major hosting redesign of Airbnb’s mobile app, a design that received a Webby Award upon launch. I worked closely with fellow designers and the company’s co-founders on the overall new look of their iOS7 and Android applications to make sure the hosting and guest experiences properly complemented one another. Today, this design is still at the heart of their product, although has evolved beautifully through updates to their visual design language.
As part of Apple's Human Interface Design team—the group responsible for the iPhone—I contributed to the conception, design, and development of features for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac interfaces. Here, I had the unique opportunity to fully own the end-to-end design experience of individual applications on both iOS and OS X. I also co-designed the original set of Apple’s emoji back in 2008. On the Mac, I was responsible for the design of FaceTime, Notes, and Messages from the ground up, and the redesign of Photo Booth and Mail’s conversation UI. On iOS, I maintained and redesigned Mail (as seen on iOS7) and designed features like Dynamic Type, enhancements to Mail search, FaceTime on iPad, portions of the Settings app, and several system icons and additional emoji sets.